Mahesh Gawli Profile

Mahesh Gawli is an Indian Football Player and a part of the Indian National Football team. An extremely efficient Defender, Gawli has been playing for the Indian National Football team since the year 1997.

Early Life
He was born on 23rd of January 1980 at a small town called Tamzorconi in Goa. At quite an early age the game of Football attracted him towards itself, and by the age of 8 years he began playing as a Midfielder for Assumpta High School.

Junior Football
Very soon, he got himself selected in the Goa Under-12 Football team that played against Japan Under-12 team. The Indian team won the match by 3-2. Further, Mahesh was selected for a Sports Authority of India (SAI) Camp to be organized at Gandhinagar, but the location was changed to Goa upon his choice. Mr. Negi, his Coach changed his position to Central Defence.

Mahesh Gawli played for All Goa XI team in a Football match against SAI, and impressed the scouts from the prestigious Tata Football Academy (TFA). He was selected for the Academy where he spent 4 years under the able supervision of his Coaches Mohamed Habib and Ranjan Chaudhary. While joining the Academy, Gawli had been handed over a notice stating that he would be sent back if he couldn’t deliver his best. He stayed over there for 4 years continuously, proving his capabilities to the Academy administration.

Further, on the dint of his sheer talent and skills, Mahesh got himself selected in the Indian Under-16 and Under-19 squads which participated in the Asian Youth Championships. He is credited to be the only Indian Football player that has been named in the Asian All Star Under-16 team.

Club Football
Gawli made his debut in Club Football with FC Cochin, a club from Kerala, and got the team a victory in the Kerala Football League. He left FC Cochin to join Chruchill Brothers Club from Goa in the year 2000. Gawli stayed with the club for 3 years and got the club a victory in the Goan League for 3 years. Mahesh left Chruchill Brothers in the year 2003 and joined Kingfisher East Bengal Club and helped the team in victories such as ASEAN Club Championship 2003 and National Football League (NFL). He moved to Mahindra United in the year 2005 and proved to be one of the strongest players of the Club. While playing for Mahindra United, Mahesh also managed to grab 3 Defender of the Year awards in a row. Gawli left Mahindra United in the year 2006 and joined Dempo club where he saw the most success phase of his Football career. He was a part of the team which won 2 League Titles in a row, and reached the Semi Final stage of the AFC Cup tournament 2008. Dempo club has been the only Indian club to have achieved that success till date.

International Football
Mahesh Gawli has been playing for the Indian National Football team since the year 1997. Currently he plays at the Center Back position. He has represented the team in a number of tournaments such as LG Cup which was won by the Indian team. He was a part of the winning Indian Football team that played in the AFC Challenge Cup 2008, and was honored with the Man of the Match award in the Final match of Nehru Cup International Football Tournament 2007, played against Syria.